Let's Get Irish - Guinness Extra Stout Brownies!

St. Patrick's Day is coming and I'm excited to do some Irish inspired baking!  I saw this recipe a few months ago and have been wanting to make it.  I'm not a fan of beer at all, but this just sounded and looked too good!  After all, I'm not one to discriminate against any type of Brownie...

So, all you need is some of this:

And some of that:

And you'll be ready to go!

I first saw this recipe here and was immediately intrigued.  I SO loved the champagne flavor in my Bellini Cupcakes and thought there really could be something to a chocolate and beer combination.  After all, there's a cupcake shop in Manhattan that specializes in beer and wine pairings with cupcakes.  It's called Sweet Revenge and it's genius!  My friends and I had a fantastic time eating and drinking, but I didn't indulge in beer, 'cause as I said, I don't like it.  But why not give beer a try with brownies?

Guinness Stout Brownies

recipe by Blondie's Cakes and Things

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup white chocolate

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 bottles Guinness Extra Stout beer

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick or regular foil, lightly greased. 

•  Pour both bottles of beer into a medium sauce pan and simmer down until it's reduced to 1 1/4 cups.  Leave beer on the side to cool down.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa and salt until combined.  Put to the side.
• Use a double boiler to melt butter, the chocolate and white chips over very low heat.  If you do not have a double boiler, place a heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water.  Place chocolate and butter in bowl and stir until melted, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and put to the side.

In a separate, large mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes).  Add melted chocolate mixture and beat until combined.

• Beat the flour mixture into the melted chocolate mixture.  Whisk in the reduced beer and vanilla.  The batter will seem thin, which is fine.  

• Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of the batter.

• Pour batter into prepared 9x13 pan and place in oven on center rack for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

• Let brownies cool completely, uncovered.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on brownies if desired.

Voila! Guinness Extra Stout Beer Brownies...chocolatey goodness.  They are not overly sweet, and the texture is very dense, which I love.  I would really like them if I couldn't detect the taste of beer (which, I realize, is the actual point of this recipe!).  Even still, I would recommend them. I baked these as a trial run for the upcoming fundraiser I'm contributing treats to.  My two beer-appreciating taste testers said these are an unqualified success and will be a big hit.  I think they will be, too.  Cheers!

Something To Turn My Frown Upside Down - Pink Rainbow Cupcakes

Oh, so it's been a tough couple of days baking!  Sometimes it happens that I have a stretch of bad luck and recipes that don't turn out.  It can be a bit maddening, but I know it's part of the process of learning and trying new things.  There's are a few recipes I'm very practiced at, ones that turn out perfect every time.  I can continue to make those, or I can choose to challenge myself.  So, chin up!  Smile!  Keep baking!

Now can I admit I made something today that I knew would turn out just fine to make myself feel a little better?  It can be just our secret!  ;)

I made a Valentine's Day version of Rainbow Cupcakes.  So have a lot of other people, and theirs look better, but they made me happy.  I love pink and working with pinks and reds makes me smile.  

Scratch Vanilla Cupcakes

from Martha Stewart

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners; set aside.  In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time,  mixing until incorporated.  Scrape down sides of bowl and mix in vanilla.

Add flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  Add whole raspberries to batter and use mixer to incorporate.  The berries will break up into pieces but will not alter the color of the batter.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 2/3 full.  

Bake until cake springs back, approximately 18-20 minutes.  After removing pan from over place on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on rack.

After mixing up the batter, I split it into four equal parts, dyeing each portion into different shades of pink.  Using the Rainbow Cake/Cupcake technique (click here to see) I filled the liners, careful not to go over 2/3 full.  If you are overzealous filling the liners you will end up with this:

Not ideal.  Not pretty!

While the cupcakes are cooling, mix up the buttercream:

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

2 sticks of butter

4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons half and half

Using a mixer, beat butter until it is fluffy.  Add 3 cups of sugar - one cup at a time - mixing until it's completely incorporated.  Add vanilla and half and half along with last cup of sugar and mix, adding more half and half until the icing is the desired consistency.

I split the buttercream into four bowls and added the gel dye in the same colors of the cupcake.  When she was done mixing, I spooned a small amount of each color, one on top of the other, into a pastry bag.  When the cupcakes were COMPLETELY cooled, I piped on the buttercream.

Having one of the three recipes I made work out gave me a boost to try, try again.  Sometimes that's just what you have to do.  I would not have posted these since they're kind of redundant for my blog.  But, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow and probably the last pink treat for awhile.  Time to go green for St. Patrick's Day...I'm donating 150 items to a fundraiser so I'll be making lots of fun stuff!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

"Conversation Hearts" Cherry Pies with Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

I've absolutely loved the adorable individual heart cherry pies I've been seeing on blogs and Pinterest.  I knew I wanted to give baking them a try and was excited when I remembered the conversation heart stencils I bought a few months ago.  How cute would conversation heart cherry pies be?  Pretty cute, as it turns out!

I began by making cherry pie filling.  I feel awful about this, but it was my first time making pie filling outside of  pie and I'm not 100% sure of the measurements I used because I kept adding things - a bit more cornstarch, a little more sugar, a few more cherries.  I can tell you how I started and how you can begin and tweak things to reach the consistency you want.  I learned an important lesson along the way, too, about cornstarch.  Did you know that it will NOT dissolve in hot liquid, instead it will clump in little bits?  You did?  Most of my friends knew that, too.  Me?  I learned the hard way.  Here's what happened:

I started with 2 - 24oz. jars of pitted sour cherries.  I strained them reserving the juice, setting the cherries aside.  I measured a cup and a half of the juice and poured it into a small sauce pan along with 1 cup of sugar.  After bringing it to a boil, I added 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.  It thickened nicely, but I could not get rid of the cornstarch clumps.  I dumped it out and started again.  Cherry juice, sugar, and this time I heated up a splash of water in the microwave adding the cornstarch to it.  I waited for it to dissolve in the hot water.  Nope.  Clumps.  I did not add it to the juice and sugar mixture.  I just stirred and thought about what I could do.  I did not have pectin and didn't want to go to the store.  I wanted to come to an understanding about cornstarch.  I'm not sure why I didn't just Google the answer, but eventually I had the bright idea to try and dissolve the cornstarch in room temperature water.  VOILA!  Completely dissolved.

So, here's where we are at (a.k.a. How to begin the process of making Cherry Pie Filling): 

1 1/2 cups of sour cherry juice

1 cup cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in room temperature water

Bring to a boil and let thicken.  Add 1 1/2 cups of cherries.  Let simmer until thick enough to spoon onto pie crust without making a mess.  Real scientific, huh?

I tasted the filling and found it was still too sour.  So added more sugar.  1/3 cup.  And then a little more until I thought it was sweet enough.  However, this made the filling much runnier.  So, I had to add more cornstarch to thicken it, without using too much water to dissolve it so it wouldn't make it thinner while trying to thicken it.  Are you following all of this?  This is the point where I lost the measurements since I was adding amounts at random.  So, I suggest one of two things:

1. Relax and experiment, you're only making pie filling and not  performing surgery.

2.  Just buy some canned stuff.

Either way, the pies will be cute and delicious!  Here's my finished filling (verys tasty, too!):

Conversation Cherry Pie Hearts

1 can of cherry (or other) pie filling (or homemade filling)

pie crust dough, homemade or store bought

edible color dust in pink and red

powdered sugar to dust pies, if desired

To assemble the pies, either make your own favorite crust or buy pre-made ones (I bought crust.  I admit it).  Roll out the dough and cut out heart shapes.  You will need two hearts for each pie.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  On the top heart, use a small craft paintbrush to brush edible color dust over a stencil placed on top of the dough., You can see this technique by clicking here.  You can buy the color dust at craft stores such as Michael's or online.

Gently lift the stencil off of the dough:

Next, place a spoonful or so of filling on the bottom heart:

After running your fingertips through water, trace around the edge of the heart with filling on it, making sure it's wet enough to create a seal after placing the top heart over it.  Press firmly around the perimeter of the heart:

To complete the process, use a fork and pressing the tines around the heart.  Lastly, use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the pie crust.

Now they are ready for baking!  I followed the instructions, preheating my oven to 425 for baking for 15 minutes, but it didn't work out:

So, I tried again baking for less time (10 minutes) and keeping an eye on them, ready to remove the pies from the oven at the first sign of light browning:

Yay!!  Exactly everything I hoped for *sigh*.  I don't mean to be dramatic, but it was a long morning of trial and error for something I thought should be pretty easy.  Don't let me scare you away from trying these.  They are easy.  Really!  My husband loved them and I did, too.  :)  

Sprinkling some powdered sugar on them makes them even sweeter, though I haven't found a way to do it in an aesthetically pleasing way with the stenciling.  I'll work on it.  In the meantime, Valentine's Day is next week and these are a pretty quick and delicious way to let someone know you love them!

I have shared this recipe with:

Things that make you say MMMMMM....Mondays

Red Velvet Cupakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is the second dessert I'd set to be automatically posted while I was on vacation, which did not post after all.  Oh, well, better late than never!  

This trip brought us to the Caribbean so we could take a break  to escape the icy temperatures in the Northeast.  We go on a cruise each January to spend a week in warm sunshine, which helps break up these cold months of lingering winter.  Since we've been doing this for many years we've had the opportunity to visit several different islands.  This trip, however, we only left the ship once in 9 days.  I had no phone, computer and never turned on the TV.  It was great to disconnect and just relax.  I read four books, slept, and seem to have finally beaten my never-ending cold.  But, I missed baking!!  I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes this week.

Before we left, I had to make Red Velvet Cupcakes for a customer order.  Again this brought up the issue of dense or light cake and hint of chocolate vs. obvious chocolate taste, which I wrote about in my Black Velvet Cupcakes post.  I can't tell you how many Red Velvet Recipes I went though, reading reviews, recipe alterations, debates.  In the end, I went with the cupcake described as moist and on the lighter side.  It is said to be a Sprinkles copycat recipe.  Recently, Sprinkles opened a shop in Manhattan, but I haven't gotten there yet.  When I do, I'll be able to compare.  I really loved these, though!

Sprinkles Copycat Red Velvet Cupcakes

Followed to a "T" from Carrot Top Mom

2 1/2 cups flour (I used all-purpose)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch processed)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice)

1 ounce red food coloring

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. 

Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: With a high powered mixer (stand up mixer if you have one) beat cold cream cheese, butter, sour cream and Pure Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl, and beat again. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Once smooth, turn beaters to high (I use my Kitchenaid) and whip on high for 5 minutes, until very fluffy. I am frequently asked how I get the piled high frosting. I do this with a piping bag, or a Ziploc bag with a 1 inch hole cut out of the corner will work perfectly. I always pipe the frosting on, instead of spreading it with a knife. That is how I get the tall pile of frosting. IF you do want the tall pile, I recommend doing 1 1/2 the recipe for frosting, to make sure you have enough.

Frost the cupcakes generously, and serve at room temperature! 

**Note from Carrot Top Mom:  In response to the comments who have had trouble with the frosting…These are the exact proportions I use. I do not add more sugar, or it will be very sweet, but it is important that the cream cheese and sour cream are cold. If the frosting is too runny, I recommend putting the frosting in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before piping it on. Also, your cupcakes MUST be totally cooled. The frosting may seem a little too moist at first, but if you can get it to form a pile, and leave the cupcake uncovered for 1 hour or so, it will form a slightly dry crust (not a bad crust, I promise), so it won’t seem so gooey.

Cream Cheese Frosting (This has been revised to show the cream cheese and butter cold, resulting in a less runny frosting.) If you want the piled high frosting, like the picture, make 1 1/2 the recipe of frosting and pipe it on with a piping bag or ziploc bag (do not try to spread it with a knife).

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cold
• 1/4 cup butter, cold
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 16 ounces confectioners’ sugar

These cupcakes were as moist as promised!  The color is just gorgeous.  And the icing piled up just as it was supposed to!  Half way through frosting them I did put the icing back into the fridge to firm up a bit, then continued topping the remaining cupcakes.

I am not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but this recipe is great!  I had two taste tester friends give them a try in an exchange for an honest review.  While they do prefer a denser red velvet cake, the icing was an unqualified success!  They each had a second cupcake this morning, which is good sign (they even commented the icing was better the next day)!  I received a text from the Birthday Girl's sister (who ordered the cupcakes) and they raved about this recipe.  I highly recommend it!